Californias historic move to require insurance companies to cover behavioral interventions for autism could still leave thousands of Californians with limited access to the expensive therapy.
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Starting this month, most plans will have to cover the intervention, called applied behavioral analysis and widely believed to be one of the most effective treatments for the autism and other developmental disorders.
The therapy involves working intensely with a child or adult to break down even the most simple of social and vocational tasks into tiny steps that can be learned by most people.
But even though the goal was to make the intervention available to most Californians through their insurance, many plans will not offer it. Thats because most of the largest employers are exempt from state requirements under a 1970s-era law that was actually meant to protect privately funded pension plans.
The law says that any company that is self-insured meaning that they pay for the care that their employees through a fund theyve set up to handle those expenses are subject to federal regulation, but exempt from many regulations imposed by the states.
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Limited Access to Autism Therapy Despite Law?